Engraving in reverse after Lucas Vorsterman published by Claes Jansz. Visscher, c1650

Unidentified engraver from the circle of Lucas Vorsterman I (1595–1675)

“Lot (aka Loth) and his family leaving Sodom”, c1650 (Rijksmuseum attribution: 1630–1652 and/or 1630–1702), in reverse after the engraving of the same name by Lucas Vorsterman I (aka Lucas Aemilius Vorsterman) (1595–1675) (see my previous post) based on a chalk drawing by Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641) in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (inv. 20.314), after the painting of the same name (c1613–15) by Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) in the collection of The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida (Rooses 102; see: http://emuseum.ringling.org/emuseum/objects/21966/the-flight-of-lot-and-his-family-from-sodom), published by Claes Jansz. Visscher II (aka Piscator; Nicolaes Jansz Visscher) (1587–1652) and Nicolaes Visscher I (aka Nicolaas Visscher; Claes Claesz Visscher) (1618–1679) with Nicolaes Visscher II (aka Nicolaas Visscher; Claes Claesz Visscher; Nicolai Vischer) (1649–1702).

Engraving on laid paper trimmed unevenly close to the plate mark and lined with a heavy wove paper support sheet.

Size: (sheet trimmed unevenly) 41 x 51.7 cm; (image borderline) 37 x 51.3 cm

Inscribed on plate within the image borderline along the lower edge: (centre) "P P Rubens invent."; (right of centre) "CIVißcher Excudit."

Lettered below the image borderline with biblical verse in Latin and four columns containing four lines of Dutch verse: "[I]gne et sulphure...statuam vertitur. Gene.19.15." and "Hoe hangt des mensche hert.../...stanck en [roock]".

Hollstein 1 (Vorsterman; copy a); Schneevoogt 1873 2.10; Hollstein undescribed (Visscher)

The Rijksmuseum offers the following description of this print:

“Lot leaves Sodom with his wife and his daughters. Two angels accompany them and show them the way. Under the [image] the title in Latin, four four-line verses in Dutch and a reference to the Bible text in Gen. 19:15.”

(http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.344678)

See also the description at the Museums of San Francisco: https://art.famsf.org/peter-paul-rubens/ne-et-sulphure-pluit-supra-sodomam-et-gomorham-angel-urges-lot-take-his-wife-and

Condition: an excellent impression but with numerous condition issues: the sheet has restored losses to the upper left and the two lower corners; there is a flattened fold at centre; there is scattered minor staining; the sheet is trimmed unevenly with chips and tears along the edges (these are addressed by the support sheet); there are abrasions.

I am selling this large engraving in reverse of Vorsterman’s engraving of the same composition for AU$283 (currently US$219.77/EUR249.58/GBP159.22 at the time of posting this listing). Postage for this print is extra and will be the actual/true cost of shipping.

If you are interested in purchasing this beautifully executed engraving—see for example the skill of the engraver to connote the reflective shine of silk and satin, the rigidity and sheen of the angel’s wings, especially in contrast with the suggested softness of angel’s arms—please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

 This print has been sold

Regarding this print the curator of the Rijksmuseum offers the following explanation about its publication (with possible translation mistakes):

“The Amsterdam publisher Claes Jansz. Visscher (II) produced large biblical prints on so-called generous format paper (approx. 480 x 580 mm) from the [1630s] onwards. After his death in 1652 his son Nicolaes Visscher (I) continued the business and so also the publication of generous Bible prints. When Nicolaes died in 1679, his son Nicolaes Visscher (II) took over the company … Complete picture books in generous format were published by father and son Nicolaes Visscher under the title ‘Historiae Sacrae Veteris et Novi Testamenti.’ The magazines were also sold separately and could be combined with generous Bible prints from other publishers. Several Amsterdam publishers also published Bible prints in a generous format, including Clement de Jonghe and Cornelis Danckerts. The prints produced by the Visscher company were mostly made by anonymous printmakers, following an example of various sixteenth- and seventeenth-century biblical prints and print series. Often the compositions had to be adapted to the larger and elongated generous format. In addition, there are also large magazines by famous printmakers such as Jan van Londerseel, Pieter Nolpe, Jacques de Gheyn (II) and Jan Harmensz. Muller included in the category ‘Bybelsche Figures, on Royaal sheets’ in the Visscher [publication] list. [This print] possibly used in: ‘Historiae Sacrae Veteris et Novi Testamenti’ (Royal Bible).” (https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/RP-P-1908-3784)